When California passed its landmark food safety law in 2023, it did more than ban a handful of controversial additives — it stepped into a role the federal government had long failed to fill.
At the time of the bill’s passage, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) was still federally allowed for use in food. The chemical additive, found in sodas and citrus-flavored energy drinks — the kind you might grab from a gas station fridge without a second thought, had already been banned in the U.K., India, the European Union and Japan. Yet it remained permissible nationwide, making California’s landmark legislation all the more contentious.
